


Escape!

by odeToMercury



Category: Combat! (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Because We Aren't Jerks, Crazy SS Officer, Delirium, FUBAR - Freeform, Fever, Friendship, Gen, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know, Major Character Injury, Might add more tags, Oh It's Coming, Somehow, Torture Will Be Involved, WWII, We Die Like Men, never tagged before, trapped behind enemy lines, un-beta'd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:22:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29951976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/odeToMercury/pseuds/odeToMercury
Summary: Saunders and the Lieutenant find themselves trapped behind enemy lines, with a crazed SS officer standing between them and freedom.
Kudos: 5





	Escape!

**Author's Note:**

> I have no understanding of the German language other than they speak it in Combat and I've tried and failed to learn. Blame Google for mistranslations. And my spelling. Any other mistakes can be attributed to my co-author. (No, they can't).

BOOM!  


Dirt rained down around the fresh crater created by the blast of an artillery shell, the sound of the explosion momentarily blotting out the shouts of men’s voices and the buzz of machine-gun fire from the nearby hill. 

Picking himself up from the ground where he’d thrown himself, Sgt. Saunders of the United States Army went running for a nearby foxhole, diving in just as another explosion sounded. Ducking close to the ground, his Thomson pressed underneath him, he waited until the dirt finished falling before he picked himself back up, trying to spot any other members of his squad. The shelling and the German machine-gun fire forced him to duck back down, but after waiting for a brief interlude he was back out of the foxhole, running for the next available cover. He threw himself behind the wreckage of an exploded jeep as bullets peppered the ground where he’d been standing, breathing hard.  


“Cage!” There was no reply. He brushed perspiration off his forehead, crawling to the other side of the jeep, trying in vain to spot any of the men who had been with him. “Kirby!”  


Around twenty yards ahead and to the right of the Sergeant’s position, Lieutenant Hanley was calling out for a retreat, men dodging gun fire and finding cover wherever they could, his strident voice drowned out by the thunderous explosions pocking the area around them. Satisfied that all his men had been warned, Hanley rushed for cover behind a fallen tree--  


BOOM!  


Tossed back from the concussive blast of the shell impacting the ground almost right on top of him, Hanley fell back--the world spinning until he came to a sudden stop against a small outcropping of boulders, sharp stabs of pain lancing through his left shoulder and side. Groggy, Hanley tried to get to his feet, right hand searching for his rifle that had been torn from his grasp as his left painfully grabbed up his helmet and rammed it back on top of his head.  


BOOM!  


Forgetting about the rifle, Hanley covered his head protectively and huddled against the boulders, his ears ringing.  


“Lieutenant!”  


Just spotting the other man as he tumbled out of sight, Saunders grit his teeth and ducked back down behind the wreckage of the jeep when enemy gunfire came in his direction, making dents in the thin metal. He looked back the way the rest of the men were retreating and then back to where the lieutenant had disappeared. The Germans were moving fast--the position was about to be completely overrun. Common sense dictated he retreat with the rest of the men, but if there was even a chance the lieutenant was still alive…!  


Some sixth sense warning him against staying by the jeep any longer, Saunders pressed himself back against the metal before shoving himself away from the wreckage, not hesitating as he took off in the direction he had seen the lieutenant disappear. He threw himself to the ground when he heard the familiar howl of a shell falling, throwing an arm over his head.  


BOOM!  


The sergeant picked himself up and continued his run, taking advantage of the lull in gunfire to get closer to the lieutenant’s last position. He ducked behind an abandoned oil drum, heart almost stopping when he collided with a bloodied body--but it was a kraut, not one of theirs. Ducking his head for a moment, he lifted it again a moment later, looking around for any sign of the other man.  


Still keeping his cover by the boulders, dark patches of blood spotting his jacket along his left side, Hanley was about to try and make a break in the direction of the other retreating soldiers while he still had a chance--krauts already almost completely surrounding his position. As if to punctuate this, several shots pinged off the rocks beside him--stone chips stinging his cheek and neck as he scuttled across the ground and dived behind a heap of stone, wood, and other debris, mouth twisting in a grimace as his bad side impacted on the ground.  


Twisting himself up into a seated position, his eyes lit on his rifle a couple of yards away and out of the protective reach of the debris he found himself hidden behind. If I can get to it, maybe there’s still a chance, he thought, bullets whizzing overhead.  


The sharp sound of a Thomson joined the gunfire from somewhere behind the lieutenant. Ducking behind the oil drum, Saunders pulled a grenade from his pocket, pulling the pin. He held it for a second before he threw it.  


“Augh!”  


“Nhh--!”  


Two bodies toppled out from the tall grass on the hill alongside their position. The sergeant went running after another burst of gunfire from his Thomson, diving into a crater left behind from a shell, lifting his gun up, firing off in the direction of the Germans, pressing himself close to the ground when they returned fire. He pulled another grenade from within his jacket.  


“Lieutenant! Can you hear me?”  


Quickly recognizing his sergeant’s voice as well as the familiar sound of his Thomson, Hanley frowned. From the position Saunders had been in before he’d lost track of him, the man should have been able to retreat with the others--not that he was going to turn down any backup. “Yeah!” He shouted back, moving into a crouch. “Cover me!”  


Pocketing the grenade again, Saunders picked up his Thomson and rose into a crouch, letting off a quick burst of fire at all the German positions he saw.  


Dashing from his cover, the lieutenant snapped up his rifle and then quickly returned to his temporary safe haven, automatically checking the gun as he flattened himself back against the debris. A bit battered but still in working condition, Hanley hefted his rifle up in his hands and swung out from his cover, letting out a few quick shots and scanning for Germans before ducking back, bullets hitting the dirt next to him.  


The krauts were everywhere--the stone outcropping Hanley had used for cover moments earlier and a burning shell of a half-track the only things keeping him and Saunders, who was somewhere to the left of him, from being picked off. But there was still a chance--a group of krauts hiding behind a fallen tree and two taking cover in a crater left behind by a shell seemed to be the ones keeping them pinned down; if they could take them out, they’d cut a hole in the Germans attack and might be able to slip out and back to their lines.  


“Saunders! Got any grenades?”  


“Yeah. Two!”  


Saunders checked the ammunition for his Thomson while he responded. It wouldn’t last forever, but there was still a decent amount. If only the shelling had continued--the Krauts would have been forced to check their advance for fear of getting hit by their own side, and the two Americans might have used it to continue on their merry way. Apparently the word got through for the German artillery to stop, though, given the distinct lack of explosions in the nearby vicinity.  


“About fifty feet in front of my position, there’s a fallen tree with a crater pocket to the right of it--krauts using them both for cover!” Hanley shouted back to him, trusting his sergeant to put the pieces of his plan together and act accordingly. Shifting into a better position, his hands tightened reflexively on his gun as the pain in his side increased, expression turning taut. “I’ll give you cover fire!” He ground out. “Get ready to move--NOW!”  


Saunders scrabbled out of the crater hole as the Lieutenant started firing, pulling the pin from his grenade as he dashed forward to shorten the distance between them and the enemy. He dropped to one knee, lobbing the grenade at the men by the fallen tree before falling fully to the ground. They heard a few panicked shouts in German just before the explosion muted them forever, one of the uniformed men falling out from behind his cover, bloodied body hanging morbidly on the fallen tree.  


Saunders looked up, face grim with satisfaction as he freed the other grenade free from the inside of his jacket. He started to reach for his Thomson when one of the krauts tried to duck out of the crater to fire at his position, but the man was forced to duck back down when the Lieutenant’s bullets sprayed the ground near his position. Releasing his hold on the Thomson, Saunders twisted onto his side and pulled the pin, throwing it at the crater.  


The Germans didn’t have a chance--their bodies flung out of the hole and rolling unnaturally on the ground before stilling, blood staining their uniforms.  


Switching the clip on his rifle, Hanley ran at a crouch over to Saunders’ position, eyes flicking around warily. It looked as clear as it was going to get. “Head for that tree line--we might be able to lose the krauts in the woods.” He muttered to his sergeant.  


“Right.” Saunders quickly got to his feet and started in the direction Hanley indicated, taking the lead as he scanned the area ahead of them intently, Thomson held ready in his hands.  


They were about twenty or so yards from the trees and relative safety when a sudden storm of bullets caught them off guard--Hanley falling to his knees with a grunt of pain as one caught his right calf. Coming from further up the tree line, the lieutenant thought as he twisted and fired off some cover fire for Saunders, one of the krauts pitching over backwards a moment later, blood blossoming out from a chest wound.  


Saunders raised his gun and fired in the general direction of the Germans behind the trees, not bothering to see if any hit as he quickly darted back to Hanley’s side. He reached down and slipped an arm around Hanley’s shoulders, pulling him roughly to his feet.  


“Can’t stop here, Lieutenant, we’re almost there!”  


Striving to get his balance back, his leg already burning from the effort and threatening to buckle underneath him, Hanley grimaced and tried to take as much of his weight as he could--his hand tightening around Saunders’ shoulder as the shorter man rocketed them towards the tauntingly close tree line, gun held uselessly in his right hand as more bullets slammed into the area around them.  


Saunders knew the more time they spent shooting back at a few of the Germans meant more could arrive and overwhelm them; he didn’t bother to shoot back now that their goal was in sight, intent only on disappearing into the woods as fast as possible. The sergeant almost took in a breath of relief when the first trees passed them, but then ducked instinctively when a few bullets splintered a branch above their heads. He swung his Thomson over his shoulder, grabbing hold of the lieutenant’s wrist on his shoulder to get a better grip as they struggled up the small wooded hill ahead of them. They would have a better chance at finding cover once they crested the hill--at least, that was what Saunders told himself as he forced his way up.  


Doing his best not to lean too heavily on his sergeant and make them both topple down the hill and straight back into the arms of the Germans, Hanley gritted his teeth and forced his bad leg to take some of his weight despite its protests--fresh adrenaline supplied by another round of bullets hitting the ground near their boots doing wonders to bring the top of the hill that much closer into their reach.  


Panting with exertion of pulling the other man along with him and climbing upwards, Saunders stopped abruptly when they reached the crest of the hill. Through the foliage just below them they could see a half-track full of krauts, heading in their direction--!


End file.
